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Top Ten Tuesday- Heart Breaker

In honor (dishonor-?) of Valentine's Day, this week's Top Ten Tuesday from the Broke and the Bookish asks for heart breakers. Let's just say things break my heart for different reasons.

1. Marley and Me by John Grogan- I read the young adult version to my elementary students three years in a row and every goddam year I'd have to strategically approach the death scene. I'd have a bottle of water to drink from frequently, I'd stop every time I started to feel teary to yell at a kid for whatever reason, and read really, really fast. Poor, poor Marley.

2. White Oleander by Janet Fitch- I read this book in high school or college and remember being just horrified at the terrible life the main character, a foster child, had. I give all the credit in the world to foster parents who open their home to kids because they really want to help, not because they need a paycheck.

3. The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale- While this book is a bit perverse, it really bothers me when chimps are mistreated or are sad. Seriously, I watched Planet of the Apes a few weeks ago and was completely traumatized.

4. Tell All by Chuck Palahnuik- This book broke my heart that I actually spent hours of my life reading this total piece of crap. It breaks my heart that someone with actual talent can lose their ability to be creative and successful so quickly. Quantity does not mean quality.

5. The Road by Cormac McCarthy- I don't want to give anything away, but the total desperation the characters feel post-apocalypse devastated me. This was a book I thought about for days- how would I act if I had lost everyone and everything? What would it be like to live in a world where there was no hope?

6. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls- Again with the dying dogs.

7. Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun- This book tells the heartbreaking story of a teenage girl that runs away from home and lives on the street. This is definitely not a feel-good book, but it is raw and well-written. Never, ever take for granted having a warm bed to sleep in or a meal in your belly.

8. Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik- This book makes me sad because it reminds me that I should have been a doctor. I appreciate my current employment and get a kick out of the kids I work with, but there is no doubt in my mind that I was supposed to go into medicine.

9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling- After reading the entire series and "seeing" those kids grow up, I was sincerely sad when I finished the last one. The nostalgic side of me hopes for another Harry and company story one day, while the literary side knows this should be it.

J.K. Rowling has said that she's not going to rule out a future Harry Potter book because she doesn't know where her creativity will take her (I'm paraphrasing). So you never know, we could see some adult Harry in the future.